Recurring xenophobic violence exposes the fragility of African unity

    Faith Omoboye | YSOT | May 15, 2026    
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One of the biggest visions of the early Pan-Africanist movement after the independence struggles of the 1950s and 1960s was the idea of a politically and socially united Africa where Africans could move, cooperate, and coexist beyond colonial borders. Kwame Nkrumah imagined a United States of Africa. Muammar Gaddafi spent years campaigning for a single African currency and stronger continental institutions. Nelson Mandela often spoke about an Africa connected by shared struggle rather than divided by artificial boundaries. However, more than six decades later, that vision remains largely in the discussion phase, with recurring violence against fellow Africans increasingly exposing how fragile African unity remains in practice.

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